One of the absolutely strangest moments of 2021 so far was the entirely inappropriate Death Watch around the Duke of Edinburgh during his four-week hospitalization. Every single part of it was inappropriate, including the widespread reports that Philip had “already died” and the family was “waiting to announce it.” Also inappropriate: Philip’s very sudden hospitalization within hours of the family finding out that Harry and Meghan would sit down for an interview, almost as if Buckingham Palace had that contingency plan in place to lay down a huge guilt-trip on H&M. And let’s not forget how deeply weird it was that Poor Hospitalized Philip was then utterly forgotten as three royal courts behaved like utter clownshows in the wake of the interview. In any case, Philip left the hospital on Monday and all is (relatively) well now. As it turns out, Meghan and Harry did have their own contingency plan: they would ask to have the Oprah interview delayed if Philip kicked the royal bucket.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry reportedly had plans in place to postpone the broadcast of their interview with Oprah Winfrey if Harry’s grandfather, Prince Philip, had died. Gayle King, who is friends with Oprah and the Duchess of Sussex, revealed on her SiriusXM radio show, Gayle King in the House, on Wednesday that the couple, who filmed the interview before Philip was admitted into the hospital on Feb. 16, never intended to have their sit-down air if the Duke of Edinburgh passed away.

“Well, just so you know, they had done that interview before Prince Phillip went into the hospital,” King said. “If something, God forbid, had happened to him, the interview would not have run at this particular time. But the interview was done and was scheduled before he went into the hospital. But a lot of people have raised that point.”

Philip returned home to Windsor Castle on Tuesday after spending four weeks in the hospital following treatment for an infection and a successful procedure for a pre-existing condition.

On the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to speak out publicly about their experiences as senior working royals and why they decided to step back from their royal roles, King added, “I think that Harry and Meghan both have been through so much for the past three years and they really have tried to work it out privately. They really have tried to get help, and nothing was working. So I think they wanted people to have some understanding about why they made the decision that they made and what they’ve been going through, and I do think that they accomplished that. I do. I think it was very brave of her and Harry to reveal what they did. It’s unheard of, and it certainly has been a ‘bombshell’, is the word.”

“‘There were six or seven that night,” she added. “I stopped counting at six. It was bombshell after bombshell after bombshell, but I do believe it was an honest conversation. I’m hoping it will lead to change.”

[From People]

For whatever record, Philip went into the hospital hours AFTER the Sussexes confirmed their plans to sit down with Oprah. They actually recorded the interview a few days after Philip entered the hospital. And for whatever record, I doubt CBS would have pulled the interview even if Philip died, even at Harry and Meghan’s request.

As for the other stuff Tea-Spiller Gayle King says… “Harry and Meghan both have been through so much for the past three years and they really have tried to work it out privately. They really have tried to get help, and nothing was working.” I do think that they tried to deal with a lot of stuff privately, a lot of stuff internally in the Firm. And clearly, Meghan has the paper trail to prove as much. Which is why the royal jesters – aka the communications offices – are running around like their hair is on fire.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red, CBS.